Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stoppers for stopping openings of containers holding liquids, solids, or gases. Specifically, and not by way of limitation, the present invention relates to a stopper having an additional retractable sheath for a container holding liquids, solids, or gases.
Description of the Related Art
There are a wide variety of containers holding liquids that have stoppers. The typical stopper forms a barrier to prevent liquid from exiting the container opening. A popular example of a container holding liquids requiring a stopper is a wine bottle. The wine bottle has a long stem with an opening. Traditionally, these wine bottles are sealed with cork stoppers. These cork stoppers have been used for centuries and for a variety of reasons, most of which are related to the ready availability of cork and the exceptional natural qualities of cork which make it useful as a stopper. In particular, a cork is resilient, durable, sparingly permeable to gas, mostly waterproof, does not rot and can be easily compressed and shaped. Thus, for the above reasons, cork is an obvious material to consider for sealing fluid in a container, such as a wine bottle.
However, although cork material has been used successfully for many years, there are several drawbacks in both the material and configuration of the cork stoppers. First, the cork often leaves contaminants in the wine, which obviously can affect the taste and quality of the wine. Additionally, the cork stopper is difficult to remove from the bottle and is often damaged or even made unreuseable in the process. Various de-corking devices have been used to make the task easier for removing the cork from the bottle opening. Even more difficult is the task of re-seating the cork in the bottle opening as the cork tends to expand after initially removing the cork from the opening. Re-seating the cork completely within the neck of the bottle to effect the original seal's integrity is very difficult.
Furthermore, a device is needed which enables a stopper to have a fully retractable sheath which may be held in place in a retracted position either on or off the container. Although there are no known prior art teachings of a solution to the aforementioned deficiency and shortcoming such as that disclosed herein, prior art references that discuss subject matter that bears some relation to matters discussed herein are U.S. Pat. No. 3,074,578 to Hester (Hester) and U.S. Pat. No. 1,546,159 to Wippler (Wippler).
Hester discloses a container closure having a stopper with an attached band that is configured to flip down into a “bead” of the container. The band is sized to latch the stopper to the bottle by flipping the band down over the mouth of the band. Hester further states that the flange which is attached to the band is sized to allow the band no further movement than the length necessary to reach the bead or groove in the container. Thus, Hester fails to disclose a sheath that can be rolled completely down the stem of the bottle. In addition, Hester does not disclose a configuration for holding a rolled up sheath to be held in a retracted position.
Wippler teaches a milk bottle closure having a thick portion with a groove and a thin portion which can be rolled up into a groove. However, the closure is configured to have the groove located below the lip of the milk bottle. By having the groove located below the lip of the milk container, the rolled up thin portion will roll down since there is no mass behind or below the groove to prevent the thin portion from rolling down. Specifically, the closure is configured with a gap for placement on the lip of the milk bottle. Without the milk bottle within the gap, there is no support behind the groove to hold the thin portion in the rolled up position. Wippler requires that the closure, when removed from the milk bottle, be manually rerolled into the rolled up position with each use before it could be repositioned on the milk bottle.
Thus, a stopper for a container holding liquid is needed which enables ease in removing the stopper from the opening and easily re-seats the stopper in the opening when re-sealing the bottle. Additionally, the stopper must be able to retain a rolled up sheath in a retracted position whether the stopper is in place upon the container or apart from the container when not in use. It is an object of the present invention to provide such an apparatus